Hey folks, just a quick update from me explaining some of the unfortunate audio errors in the Witch Hat episode - hopefully the file should be fixed now and available for your listening pleasure!

Sorry to those who listened and thanks to the eagle eared listener who flagged it... Fingers crossed they're not present in episode 98 or any future episodes! New processes will be implemented (and old mice reinstated) to make sure this doesn't happen again...

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Rei Kiriyama is a shogi prodigy who has overcome incredible hardship to become a professional player. Despite having his own Tokyo apartment at 17, he's incredibly lonely. After a young hostess takes pity on him, Rei is invited more and more to spend time with the Kawamoto sisters, who are themselves dealing with grief... Can they help to heal each others wounds? Or will they sink under the weight of their collective grief?

This week, Mat is joined once again by Ramzee to discuss the excellent March Comes In Like A Lion by Chica Umino. Join us as we discuss the thawing of Rei's emotions, our hopes and fears about how this series balances tragedy on a knife's edge, and the excellent cat (and dog) energy that can be found within!

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Show Notes

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Link to the Manben Episode with Chica Umino

Link to Ramzee and Claude T.C's new book, Rex Power!

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Manga

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Hikaru No Go by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata

Yu-Gi-Oh by Kazuki Takahashi

Ping Pong by Taiyō Matsumoto

Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi

Honey and Clover by Chica Umino

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Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Coco is a young girl who's had put her dreams of becoming a witch aside because she was not born one... However a child's curiosity can never be quenched, and so after discovering that magic is something one does with a pen and ink, Coco can't help but test out the book of spells and wand she received as a child from a mysterious figure in a brimmed hat... with disastrous results!

Before she knows it, her mother is turned to stone and needs the assistance of Qifrey, a witch seemingly obsessed with the brimmed hats, to help her reverse the spell she cast! She joins his Atelier as an apprentice, but Coco soon learns the road to saving her mother and fulfilling her dreams won't be so easy!

On this week's podcast, Mat is joined by artist and designer Allie Oldfield to discuss Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama! Join us as we get into the incredible world Shirahama's created: discussing not only it's wonderful magic system, but the metaphor at it's heart. We even talk about the fantastic exhibition at Angouleme of Shirahama's original manuscripts, as well as the many, many artistic influences we see on the pages of the manga!

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Show Notes

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Mangaka, Artists and Writers

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Alphonse Mucha

Brothers Grimm

Gustav Doré

Tove Jansson

John Tenniel

Lewis Carroll

C.S. Lewis

J.R.R. Tolkien

Terry Pratchett

Chica Umino

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Anitrendz TCAF Interview with Shirahama

Crunchy Roll Germany Interview with Shirahama

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Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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To the casual observer, Yoh Asakura seems like a laid back teenager with street and book smarts in equal measure, but unbeknown to his new classmates, Yoh is actually a shaman: a human blessed with the powers to not only commune with the dead, but also use their abilities to help their shaman wielders!

However, Yoh can't live a peaceful life forever! Between his classmate Manta discovering his ability, the constant attention of restless souls and rival shaman seeking him out, Yoh's dreams of living a carefree life soon turn to him focusing on becoming the Shaman King: a shaman so powerful they can channel the power of the great spirit and reshape the world!

This week, Mat's joined once again by designer / illustrator Bastian Najdek to talk about Hiroyuki Takei's Shaman King! We get into how big this manga was for Bastain (and in Poland in general) growing up, Takei's friendship with Eiichiro Oda, as well as the series' odd publishing history and sequels!

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Show Notes

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The Takei Doc we talk about all episode from Achipel

Link to Polish Publisher, Studio JG's version of Shaman King!

Manga

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Shaman King: Flowers by Hiroyuki Takei

Shaman King: The Super Star by Hiroyuki Takei

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama

D.Gray-man by Katsura Hoshino

Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Dandadan by Yukinobu Tatsu

H2 by Mitsuru Adachi

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Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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A young girl is given a rose signet ring by a mysterious prince who saves her life... But when she grows up and finds herself at Ohtori Academy, where the student council also hold matching rings and end up challenging her to duel, what is young Utena Tenjo to do but throw herself in head first?

This week, Mat is joined by Sarah and Joe of the Shoujoe Podcast to discuss Revolutionary Girl Utena by Chiho Saito and Be-Papas! As Shoujoe are currently watching Utena for their podcast, we spend a lot of this episode comparing and contrasting the manga to the anime, delving deeper into this cross media franchises' creative process before highlighting the strengths of each version of this classic shoujo story!

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Show Notes

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Utena Specific!

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The very insightful Wiki page of Utena

2017 interview with Chiho Saito and Kunihiko Ikuhara

NYCC INTERVIEW WITH SAITO AND IKUHARA

1998 UTENA CD ROM(!) INTERVIEWS

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Manga / Anime

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Red River by Chie Shinohara

Kodocha by Mino Obana

Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto

The Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda

Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura

Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori

Kime no Todoke by Karuho Shiina

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Stranded on a desert island with no hope of rescue, an unnamed writer suddenly finds himself face to face with a young pirate by the name of Portgas D. Ace. While he isn't much to look at, just a scrawny kid in a hat, after saving the writer's life and accidentally eating the mysterious Flame-Flame Fruit, it becomes clear that maybe he's destined for greatness!

This week, Mat is joined once again to discuss One Piece: Ace's Story (the manga) with Art by Boichi, Storyboards by Ryo Ishiyama, based on a concept by Eiichiro Oda, but more specifically based on light novels by Sho Hinata andTatsuya Hamazaki... That's a lot of names I hear you cry! Well strap in as we unpack this tale of Luffy' Older Brother...

SPOILER WARNING: If you've not read past 'Marine Ford' in One Piece, maybe skip this one and come back later ;)

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Show Notes

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Manga

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One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

One Piece: Shokugeki no Sanji by Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki

Dr. Stone by Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi

The Marshall King by Boichi

Berserk! by Kentaro Miiura

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'The Loss' Shirt Mat was wearing!

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Eugene Korekishi is the smartest kid in his class, but despite his Grandma's promise to one day come back to haunt and hang out with him, he doesn't believe in ghosts. That is until one day, a young exorcist in training named Mogari Shishikuno joins his class!

While Mogari can't see or hear ghosts himself, he can perform exorcisms by eating spirits who refuse to pass on! Another handy trick he has up his sleeve is the ability to touch someone with a supernatural ability and borrow their powers... Given this high school is seemingly filled to the brim with super natural talent, it's time to form a club and get recruiting!

This week, Mat is joined once again by Zane Reid of Undisputed Anime to talk Phantom Busters by Neoshoco! Join us as we discuss the book's spin on the traditional shonen manga format, who exactly it's audience might be and how we feel about a book that delivers more punch-lines than punches!

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Show Notes

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Manga

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Mashle by Hajime Komoto

One-Punch Man by ONE and Yusuke Muruta

Sakamoto Days by Yuto Suzuki

Wistoria: Wand and Sword by Fujino Omori

Witch Hat Atelier - Kamome Shirahama

Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togarashi

Frieren by Kanehito Yamada & Tsukasa Abe

Black Torch by Tsuyoshi Takaki

DanDaDan by Yukinobu Tatsu

Phantom Seer by Togo Goto & Kento Matsuura

Bungo Stray Dogs by Kafka Asagari & Sango Harukawa

Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Love can hit you when you least expect it... Sometimes it's up close with a 9mm, other times it's at a distance from an semi-automatic! Some people even end up falling in love as collateral damage from a stray grenade... All is fair in love and war when cupids are involved! Anything to earn that karma to get re-incarnated!

This week Mat's once again joined by Behind The Manga co-founder Winter Venom to discuss Love Bullet by inee! We get into the book's premise, a yuri manga where gun-toting cupids take matchmaking to the extreme, discuss it's potential scope, as well as the mix of action and emotion that forms the foundation of a wonderful first volume.

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Show Notes

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Find MangaAlert's Review of Love Bullet here.

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Manga

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The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't A Guy At All (aka Green Yuri) by Sumiko Arai

Gokurakugai by Yuto Sano

Mechanical Buddy Universe by Takuji Kato

Midnight Diner by Yarō Abe

Maid to Skate by Suzushiro

This Monster Wants to Eat Me by Sai Naekawa

Lycoris Recoil by Yasunori Bizen

Black Lagoon by Rei Hireo

Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto

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Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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